New Mexico Gun Owners Association stands opposed to the Santa Fe magazine ban for the following reason. It will have no effect on anyone owning or using them except for the law abiding gun owners. Criminals and those who want to commit crimes are by default, not willing to follow the laws. So this will not change what they own or use in the commission of those crimes.

Why would you attack the people who already follow the law, and not actually deal with those who are not following the law?

NMGOA also believes that this violates our state constitution Article 2 Section 6 which states:

No law shall abridge the right of the cit-izen to keep and bear arms for security anddefense, for lawful hunting and recreationaluse and for other lawful purposes, but noth-ing herein shall be held to permit the carry-ing of concealed weapons. No municipalityor county shall regulate, in any way, an inci-dent of the right to keep and bear arms. (Asamended November 2, 1971 and November2, 1986.)

Firearms with removable magazines require the magazine to properly operate. So in our opinion the magazine is an integral part of the firearm. If the city passes this bill, it will be violating the ban on municipalities to regulate in any way this right.

If this bill becomes law, Santa Fe will be sued, and this will just cost the city and the taxpayers money that should be used for other purposes than to play political gamesmanship with your citizens civil rights.

New Mexico Gun Owners Association is made up of hundreds of gun owners across New Mexico in every city, town, and county. There are members from every corner of NM. We fight for the firearms and self defense rights of all New Mexicans whether they are members or not and at all levels of government.﻿

Judiciary told me on the phone at 830 yesterday morning that HB77 was on the agenda, but that the agenda wasn't yet available. Then after driving my 4hrs to get there, the agenda was still not available. They made the agenda available 15 minutes before the hearing started at 1645 or so. HB77 was not on the agenda at that point. There were around 20 people with little yellow name tag sized sign pinned on their shirt that said YES HB 77. I had to be back home this am for a customer.

Just got off the phone with a secretary for Judiciary who said they will be meeting 830 this morning and that HB77 is not on the agenda, but that they will be meeting again this afternoon, but no agenda yet for then. I will be back in SF this afternoon and will be there until either the bill is heard or the end of the session.﻿

New Mexico Gun Owners Association has joined the National Coalition to Stop the Gun Ban.

A national coalition of grassroots, pro right to keep and bear arms organizations has formed to defeat gun bans, magazine capacity limits, attempts at registration and other gun control measures in the upcoming session of Congress.

Grassroots supporters of the right to keep and bear arms have drawn a “line in the sand” that any person in Congress or any bureaucrat with hopes of future political office or appointment had better be aware of. Crossing the gun control line will bring an entirely new and highly motivated contingent of the “gun lobby” to bear. Gun prohibitionists have nobody to blame but themselves with wild eyed threats of confiscation, police raids, forced buybacks, mandatory registration and a litany of other threats. The gun lobby takes these threats very seriously and as the news media are finding out, gun lobbyists know how to use social media too. The latest batch of papers releasing interactive maps of known gun owners got a dose of their own medicine when their details were published with an interactive map.

Make no mistake, this is not a “national discussion” about guns or talk of addressing the causes of violence or solutions to it. This latest feeding frenzy of calls for gun control are a political declaration of war. As the gun prohibitionists have repeatedly demonstrated, they will do absolutely anything with a complete lack of shame, class or honor. This should not be lost on the gun lobby.

Understand, that in this political war, there are no honorable mentions, no points for doing well, and second place is first loser. In this political war there is only victory or defeat.

For more information on the coalition and the letter that was sent to congress go here.﻿

The proposed method in House Bill 77 has been changed, but the gun control advocates’ end-game remains the same: universal regulation of private firearms transfers. The newly-released committee substitute for HB 77 would make it a crime for a private individual to transfer his or her legally-owned firearm without going through a federal firearm licensed dealer (FFL) to conduct a background check on the transferee. Exceptions are made for only certain categories of individuals – family members, domestic partners, stepchildren, foster or adopted children, or persons who live in the same residence and maintain a single economic unit. However, the provisions in HB 77 would still apply to gun sales, gifts, loans, rentals or trades between friends, neighbors, co-workers or more-distant relatives. These restrictions would not apply to temporary transfers during hunting or target practice, but the possible breadth and scope of the legislation is endless.

Even though the vast majority of vendors at most gun shows are FFLs and already conducting background checks on gun sales, under this proposal, individuals looking to sell or trade a firearm from their personal collection at these events would also be forced to go through an FFL before transferring their lawfully-owned personal property. Gun show promoters would be required to arrange for one or more FFLs to be present at such events to conduct required background checks or be subject to criminal penalties.

While HB 77 establishes that FFLs may charge a fee for conducting these checks for third parties, there is no limit to what that charge could possibly be. Additionally, there is no immunity from liability provided to FFLs who conduct background checks for third parties, either at their retail establishment or at gun shows, or for private sellers who enlist the services of an FFL to comply with the provisions of HB 77.

Even though they have already undergone the same background check required by HB 77 before being issued a license, New Mexico Concealed Handgun Licensees are not exempt from the restrictions imposed by HB 77. The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has repeatedly denied requests from individual lawmakers and the New Mexico Department of Public Safety to grant New Mexico CHLs a waiver from the background check conducted when purchasing a firearm from an FFL.

Enactment of HB 77 would actually reduce the penalty for unlawful transfer of a firearm to a prohibited individual. Under federal law, it is a felony for any private individual to sell, trade, give, lend, rent or transfer a gun to a person he or she knows or should have known is not legally allowed to purchase or possess a firearm. We already know that federal law is rarely – if ever – enforced, so this bill would create the same crime in New Mexico statute, but make it a misdemeanor.

Once again, this latest version of HB 77 fails to recognize that criminals acquire firearms predominantly through theft, black market sales, and straw purchases – all illegal transfers currently. Rarely do they purchase firearms through legal channels. On the rare occasion that they do, they are almost never prosecuted. The only individuals who will be impacted by the bureaucratic and onerous requirements in this proposed legislation are law-abiding citizens. HB 77 contains no enforcement mechanisms and actually reduces the penalties for violators.

The public policy focus of state lawmakers should be on improving the accuracy and quality of information compiled in the NICS system – specifically, disqualifying state mental health records – and aggressively prosecuting violators of federal firearms laws.

The House Judiciary Committee will consider the committee substitute to HB 77 on Monday, February 4, at 1:30pm (or upon adjournment of the House) in Room 309 of the State Capitol in Santa Fe. It is critical that we pack the hearing room to show strong opposition to these far-reaching restrictions. Continue contacting the committee members below and urging them to OPPOSE HB 77 in its most current form. Please also contact your own State Representative and let them know where you stand!﻿

We are joining with the TEA Party groups and other conservative action groups at the NM State Capitol Building. We invite all gun owners in New Mexico to join with us in Santa Fe at the State Capitol Building for the Annual Rally at the Roundhouse 2013!

If you can catch Aaron, he will have bumper stickers and pamphlets available!

January 15, 2013

10:00 Looking Back/Looking Ahead - Open to all conservative action groups leadership. Room to be announced

13:00 Rally in the rotunda - Open to all, speeches by invited guests.

Rally at the Roundhouse - Flyer available here.

16:00 NM Gun Owners Association meeting at Denny's at 3004 Cerrillos Road, Santa Fe, NM 87507. For those that can attend. It will be a short meeting.﻿

New Mexico Gun Owners Association is a no compromise gun rights activist group. We primarily work on gun rights issues in New Mexico, and will be providing a way for New Mexicans to be more proactive in defending their Constitutional rights.